The Garden of Dreams
by StarCrusader
Summary: Lucy first encountered Natsu when she was 10. She was dreaming, and they met in a beautiful garden. But, will they continue to see each other? And what happens after 8 years? Will they ever meet in person?


Lucy had first met him when she was 10 years old. She had drifted off to sleep, dreaming about a beautiful park. In her dream, it was nighttime, and the few street lamps around cast a haunting glow over the many flowers. She walked up to the rose bush, her small arm reaching out to pick a rose.

A thorn pricked her thumb, and she jerked her hand away, tears in her eyes. Her blood beaded on her stinging finger, and she watched it as it fell to the ground.

"Hey, you should be more careful!" A voice came from behind her. The little blonde turned around, surprised to see someone else in her dream. The boy with hair of salmon trotted over to her, inspecting her finger. Lucy was startled when he put it in his mouth, gently sucking on it. When he was finished, he pulled her wet finger from his mouth, a smile dominating his face.

"T-thank you." Lucy whispered, seeing as how the blood was gone.

"No problem. My name's Natsu, what's yours?"

"Lucy." Her mouth contorted into a smile, she had never gotten to have many friends. "Can we be friends?"

"Sure, Luce!" The little girl's smile brightened at her new nickname. She didn't care that this was just some dream; she was proud to have made a new friend.

* * *

Once every week, Lucy would have the dream where she would be in the garden with Natsu. Even though it was 7 years later, she always looked forward to it, and they always talked about whatever came to their minds. For a dream character, he seemed very real to her. Even his stories seemed real. He told her about how he found his weirdly blue cat, Happy.

"Geez, Luce, I can't believe that, even after 7 years, we still end up meeting here." Natsu had his arm draped across her shoulders; a gesture she had come to love. In fact, she couldn't help but love the guy she spent so much time with.

"I just wish you were real, Natsu. Too bad this is just a dream." Lucy looked away sadly as they sat down on the bench.

"Whaddya mean, Luce? Of course I'm real! _You_ _'re_ the dream!" Natsu said, staring at her like she had grown three heads.

"That's funny, Natsu, but seriously, _I_ _'m_ the real person."

"Wait a moment, Luce. What if we're _both_ real?" Natsu was dead serious, and the blonde knew it.

"Both of us? Like, we're sharing a dream?" Lucy asked. It was highly implausible, no, rather it was _impossible._ "That's crazy, Natsu!"

"But what if it isn't? We both swear that we're real!"

"But if that's true, then what's going to happen? Will we be able to see each other again? What if we stop seeing each other now that we're 'aware'?" Lucy was scared, but according to every story like this, something bad like that should happen.

"Don't worry, Luce. We'll find each other." A ray of sun peaked overhead, and Lucy knew that their time was up. They only had the length of a night to talk, and when morning came, they'd awaken.

"I'll see you next week, Natsu." She whispered, kissing his cheek lightly. She noticed his blush as the sun rose higher, ending their night.

* * *

The next dream never came, and Lucy should've know that this would've happened. _Of course he was just a dream..._ Lucy moped around her house and school every day for the next few weeks, making her friends worried about her.

"Ne, Lu-chan, are you alright?" Levy asked one day as they were walking home.

"Just tired, I guess." It wasn't a lie; she was exhausted. Every ounce of energy she had was spent on remembering Natsu.

"Just make sure you get some rest, okay?" The bluenette gently rested her hand on her friends' shoulder.

"Aye."

* * *

One year. It had been a year since she saw Natsu, and Lucy figured she'd never get to see him again. She had actually started to forget about him when one day, after school, she saw a tuft of pink hair turn a corner. She had previously been talking to Levy about their upcoming project when Lucy all of a sudden stopped talking. _There_ _'s no way..._

"Lu-chan? Nee, Lu-chan?" Levy waved her hand in from of her face, trying to get her attention.

"Sorry, Levy-chan, I have to go!" She ran without waiting for an answer, running after the pink haired person. She saw the pink once again as it turned another corner, and Lucy struggled to keep up. It seemed like no matter how fast she ran, she couldn't keep up.

When she lost sight of the person, she collapsed on a bench, taking inner surroundings.

"What...?" She looked around the garden she had wandered into, thinking it was familiar. She stood back up, walking over to a rosebush. "How pretty..." She muttered, reaching out to pluck one. She yanked her hand away when she felt a sharp sting, watching some blood bead on her pointer finger.

"Why is this so - wait, isn't this how I met-"

"Hey, you gotta be more careful. Thorns are sharp!" Lucy froze in her spot, breath hitched in her throat. "Hey, are you alright?"

She slowly turned around. _That voice..._ When she met the onyx eyes, her heart stopped, and so did his.

"L-Luce?" He whispered, eyes widened. It was him. It was _him_! Lucy forgot about the blood on her finger, the sting of her wound long gone.

"Natsu..." She felt tears welling up in her eyes as she saw his pink hair, as unruly as ever.

"Oh my god, Lucy!" He lunged forward, wrapping her in a tight hug. She returned it, letting her tears of joy stream down her face.

"I can't believe it's you! I've looked for you _everywhere!_ " Lucy cried, pulling away.

"I've looked for you, too! I moved here about a month ago. I used to live in Crocus."

"Want me to show you around?" Lucy asked, practically begging him. He chuckled and nodded, letting Lucy drag him away from their beloved garden.

* * *

It had been a month since Lucy had found Natsu, and they were inseparable. Either they were always texting each other, or they sat in the garden, laughing and telling each other stories. One day, before leaving, Lucy went to kiss his cheek, but he turned, so their lips met instead.

"E-eh?! N-Natsu?!" She was redder than Erza's hair.

"Last time you kissed my cheek, Luce, I had to wait a year to see you again." He pressed his forehead against hers, running his hand through her hair.

"Don't worry, Natsu, I'm not going _anywhere._ " She pecked his lips again, and the couple continued their walk through the peaceful garden. _Their_ peaceful garden. The garden of dreams.

* * *

 ** _(A/N)_**

 ** _I hope you guys liked this one-shot!_**

 ** _Leave a review!_**

 ** _~StarCrusader~_**


End file.
